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RaySmith/Creative Commons Scabby the Rat in Long Island City, New York In 1913, author Jack London wrote this ode to the those who crossed the picket line: After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, the vampire, he had some awful substance left with which he made a scab. A scab is a two-legged animal with a cork-screw soul, a water-logged brain, a combination backbone of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles. When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and angels weep in heaven, and the Devil shuts the gates of Hell to keep him out. It was from descriptions like these that Scabby the rat took its name and form. In the early 1990s, Ken Lambert and Don Newton from District Council 1 of Illinois’s bricklayers union decided it was time to escalate one of their campaigns. They contracted with Bigsky Balloons to design and provide a pro-labor inflatable, which inspired unions across the country to inflate and deploy their...

agenda_2020.jpg Henry Williams is a rising sophomore at Columbia University and the chief of staff for Mike Gravel’s 2020 presidential campaign. Williams is the force behind octogenarian and former senator from Alaska Mike Gravel’s viral presidential bid. Gravel hopes to enter the July Democratic debates with the stated goal of pushing other candidates left on economic and foreign-policy issues. In the final week before the DNC qualifying deadline, we spoke with Williams to understand viral campaigns, direct democracy, and the successes and failures of wild-card candidates in the Trump era. I was wondering if we could start off, what with your campaign in the homestretch, rehashing the logic of the campaign. What’s the end goal of getting into the debates and pushing the conversation leftward? The end goal of getting into the debates is to have influence on Democratic Party politics and to bring together three trends. One is that the party is in this status quo creep...

This July Fourth, the fireworks in D.C. are only going to intensify, both figuratively and literally. During what is being billed as the largest pyrotechnics display since the bicentennial celebration that took place here on July 4, 1976, President Donald Trump will be front and center addressing crowds from the Lincoln Memorial. The expansion of the fireworks program beyond the usual yearly display was made possible by a healthy donation of explosives (around $750,000 worth) from Phantom Fireworks, the leading retailer of consumer pyrotechnics in the country. It’s all part of the administration’s attempt to enhance an extraordinarily expensive celebration that Democrats view as little more than a state-sponsored campaign event. In addition to its love of country, Phantom Fireworks also loves its piece of the billion-dollar industry it dominates, and would hate to see anything happen to it. Its concerns are no doubt particularly grave in light of the fact that while Trump...

Core Morse/Grand Rapids Press via AP Drivers prepare get on a new Silver Line rapid transit bus during a training exercise in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bus Rapid Transit is a feature often left out of big-picture transportation discussions. It consists of replicating the service of a rapid light rail, but at a fraction of the cost, through dedicated bus lanes on major roads. BRT is designed to serve as a fast and consistent alternative to driving in dense urban cores and has found great success in places like Richmond, Nashville, and Eugene. The bus-exclusive lanes allow for higher average speeds in addition to a standard of reliability unaffected by snarling congestion. They also tend to make for speedier boarding than the average city bus and can improve commute times by making fewer stops. Opponents complain that these lanes—dedicated solely for rapid buses—increase traffic, reduce lanes for bicycles, and in some cases drive down business because of the impact on cars,...

screen_shot_2017-07-19_at_4.28.52_pm.png Twenty-five hours is a long time. With it, you could file your taxes twice; roast, burn, then re-roast a brisket; obtain (and recover from) a stomach virus; or watch an entire nonstop month of The View . Olga Sokal used to dread something far worse: spending 25 hours on the bus—every week. In cities on both coasts, as well as Sun Belt growth centers in between, housing costs have skyrocketed in the urban core, while affordable homes can often be found 30 or 40 miles outside downtown. But antiquated or nonexistent rail service combined with congested highways make for unbearable commutes. Meanwhile, underdeveloped bus lines make for arduous travel even closer in. With soaring Portland rents, Sokal moved to Lake Oswego just south of Portland to take a job as an artist for animated films. Without money for a car, Portland’s bus system was the only way for her to get to work. She spent months commuting two and a half hours each way. But...